Ovalle, Cruz lead Tigres to yet another crown
Tigres rode a sturdy defense and opportunistic offense to claim their fifth Liga MX Femenil championship, extending their league-record title haul with a 3-0 aggregate win over América.
Lizbeth Ovalle scored for the home side in minute 21, chasing down a picture-perfect diagonal lead pass from Tigres captain Stephany Mayor then firing between the legs of América goalie Itzel González.
The goal was the second for Ovalle the Liga MX Femenil Final after her golazo in Estadio Azteca on Friday night had given “las felinas” a 1-0 advantage heading into “El Volcán.”
Ovalle was sidelined after suffering a concussion from a hard fall just before halftime, but her replacement, Uche Kanu, wreaked havoc on the América defense throughout the second half
In minute 49, Uche and Mayor harassed the Aguilas as they tried to carry out of their zone on the right side, eventually forcing a turnover. Mayor quickly fed Uche who got past a defender to the touch line before left-footing a centering pass that Belén Cruz poked into the net.
América continued to press forward as they did throughout both matches, but rarely managed to get a clear look at net. And when they did, Ceci Santiago was there to clean things up.
Santiago – who won a Liga MX Femenil ring with América in 2017 – came up big in minute 25 with the score just 1-0 (2-0 aggregate), sliding over to her left post and palming away a shot that was ticketed for the top corner.
Tigres have now won exactly half of the 10 Liga MX Femenil tournaments and they have been in 8 of the 10 Finals.
Liga MX Femenil outdraws men’s final
The first leg of the Apertura 2022 Final on Friday night set a new Liga MX Femenil attendance record as 52,654 fans packed Estadio Azteca to watch América and Tigres battle for league supremacy.
More than 42,600 bought tickets for Monday night’s contest in the Estadio Universtario, pushing the overall attendance to more than 93,200. The Liga MX Final between Pachuca and Toluca in late October attracted 48,350 to the two games.